Week 3 Inquiry

Hello Everyone! This week has been a little hectic! I closed on my very first home yesterday and we moved in today, so here I am back at the apartment working on the Internet:) I wanted to give my last update on my Inquiry Plan, what I actually videotaped was me working with students who were making PowerPoint slides at the computers in my classroom. I had originally videotaped myself in the computer lab, but it was just too hard to hear anything that I was saying in that area. So I re-videotaped me in my classroom with four students. It went very well, we had worked very hard on researching Native Americans, and they were all working on different parts of different groups.

Each student had their research paper in front of them, and they used that information to create the title of their slide, and what information they added to the slide. I asked them to list the information in bullet form, and then they were allowed to add pictures and change the font, text, color, etc. One thing that I am taking away from this inquiry is that I think it really went smoothly when I first presented the information through technology using the Smartboard to watch a video on each group, so they were engaged in the video and they had background knowledge and interest when we read packets on each group. That is where they pulled the info from to list on their research paper. I have tried this before using other content area, where we just read and did worksheets and the engagement level in this project was far more exciting than any other project I have done before. The kids were all so thrilled to be able to make their own slide, and several students kept commenting on how fun it was to be doing it.

I think that technology is crucial in developing our students knowledge and competitive edge in the global world. If I had my way, I would have a wireless lab for just my classroom with a Smartboard! But, that is obviously not an option at this point! So I will keep on showing Unitedstreaming videos as I can, and checking out the traveling Smartboard as I can to keep my lessons engaging and meaningful to my students at all times. Technology really makes a difference and I would recommend to any other teachers to use as much as possible, I am really hoping I can create more lessons like this to bring technology use right into my students hands:)